Words/Video: Jon Powell
Cover/Photographer: Jon Powell/Aesthetic Visuals
RESPECT. Founder: Jonathan Rheingold
Copyright Musinart LLC 2018
The first thing I learned upon meeting Q Da Fool: his superhuman awareness. The rising star was somewhat separated from his group with his back turned when I approached him at a park in Laurel, MD – he was getting his outfit together for a music video they’d be shooting afterward. Before I could speak, he greeted me and asked me my name – all while still looking in another direction.
I could be overthinking, but it’s this level of awareness that probably brought Q Da Fool – real name: George Hudnell – to this point: he’s currently one of the leading Rap artists in the DMV area, having scored a highly-coveted deal with Roc Nation. He also connected with legendary producer Zaytoven, together cooking up the well-received 100 Keys project. In an area known for its “crabs in a barrel” mentality, Q has managed to maneuver through its pitfalls and gather the support of his peers – something few artists from this area have been able to accomplish.
This isn’t to say that his path to greatness wasn’t without setbacks: recent years have seen Q in and out of prison. This clearly didn’t stop him, and he used his time incarcerated to better himself and plan his trajectory to success. Now, his music streams and video hits are in the millions, and his name can be heard any and everywhere (seriously: you can’t even turn to ESPN without him being mentioned). And this is all just the beginning.
During our sit-down, Q speaks on how he got started in music (which includes his time behind bars), his Rich Shootas movement, the DMV scene as a whole and more – you can enjoy that below. Heading back home, this much was clear: Rap needs Q Da Fool.
ON THE ROC NATION DEAL:
“That came [via] my Zaytoven mixtape, 100 Keys. We made something out of that, a bigger deal out of that. Went from a mixtape deal to a whole [outstretches arms] …you know what I’m saying? Something major.”
ON WORKING WITH ZAYTOVEN:
“As soon as they told him to listen to me and s***, he as like, ‘oh yea, I gotta f*** with [him].’ Just from him listening, and his experience, he already knew what it was.”
ON WORKING WITH ZAYTOVEN:
“I feel like, a lot of people look past Maryland in the DMV. I feel like now, it’s our time as one, we gotta stick together and get our shine on forreal. Everybody grindin’, the whole Rich Shootas, I got other artists beside me grindin’, ain’t no stopping it.”